The Palace of Memory
by Cyranothe2nd
Summary: Chapter six is up! Time travel,SSHG and a conversation over tea. Dumbledore-in-Harry has questions. Please read and review.
1. Final Battle

_ANOTHER fanfic from Cyrano, you ask? Why yes. I hesitated to start another WIP when I had not finished "Choices" (insert shameless plug here) but this plot bunny would not die. So, please R/R._

_As always, I do not own Severus and Hermione, I just take them out and play with them form time to time. And then put them up wet._

**The Palace of Memory**

Chapter One: Final Battle

The time for finesse has long since passed. Every breath was a monumental effort on that bloody field and the spells had turned into blunt instruments meant to destroy. There was no quarter taken or received, just the heat of curse and counter; live or die. Severus Snape would be having fun if he wasn't so goddamned drained. It seemed like hours since the battle had begun. He had struck early, declaring his allegiance to the Dumbledore's cause by hitting Goyle from behind. He had killed three Deatheaters before they had even realized what was happening. And then he was facing Lucius Malfoy himself.

"So, thrown in your lot with the Mudbloods, have you? I always knew you weren't good enough to be one of us Severus."

Snape had barely managed to dodge the curse that Malfoy threw at him, and then there was no time to do anything but fight for his life. Malfoy had always been considered a deadly duelist, far better then the Master he served. But Snape had a few tricks he was confident the older man had never seen.

"You know Malfoy, I truly think you enjoy being on your knees. It suits your pretty face."

"Better pretty than a gallows's head."

It was an old joke between them, but it wasn't remotely funny anymore.

"_Crucio_!" Lucius shouted.

Snape batted the curse away without a thought, throwing an "_Inflamentia Regalto_" at his opponent.

He had lost sight of the others. Where was Dumbledore? He had disappeared four days ago and no one had seen him since. The Potter boy was here somewhere; Snape could hear his voice dueling with Voldemort's. For a moment, just a moment, Snape turned his head from the man in front of him to catch a glance at the larger battle. Seizing the chance Lucius called forth a Dementor.

"Kill him!" He ordered it.

Snape stood at the ready as the Dementor wended closer. He knew what to do; he knew the counterspell. He only need let it get close enough...

The Dementor glided closer, its ghostly grey garment trailing over the dead and dieing bodies in its path. Severus felt himself being pulled towards it. A deep sadness welled up in him. He set it aside, knowing it was only the Dementor's magic.

"_Expecto Patronum_." He said. A silvery light glowed briefly at the tip of his wand but then fizzled and died. He heard Malfoy laughing as the Dementor reached for him. Despair crashed through him. He had failed. He was going to die here, at the hands of Lucius Malfoy. He would not live to see if Potter could defeat the Dark Lord. He would never see if his sacrifice had been worthwhile...

_Think_. He ordered himself. _Find a memory. Focus. Say the spell._

The Dementor was opening its great gaping mouth, drawing him closer. Severus felt the edges of his soul fraying under its touch.

_THINK!_ He ordered himself but nothing came. No memory, no spell, nothing could overpower the cold of the Dementor's hands and the darkness of its despair. It was crushing him, sucking him in.

Far off he could hear a voice like a bell in his head shouting his name.

"Severus!"

He felt darkness overtaking him and he tried one last desperate spell.

"**Legilimens Memoriam**!"


	2. Waking

Chapter Two: Waking

Awareness came back slowly. He was lying somewhere soft. A bed? Had he survived the battle? He felt no pain. Either he was unwounded or so badly wounded that he had been ensorcelled against the pain. Severus suspected the latter.

"Sev? Severus, it's time to get up." A warm body slid into the bed behind him, rubbing his shoulders and nuzzling his neck. "Wake up, I've got coffee on."

For a moment Snape relaxed into the dream. It had to be a dream; no one had ever woken him up like that before. But the smell of strong coffee was too compelling to ignored and after a few minutes he cracked an eye open. He was in a bed, but not in any hospital he had ever seen. In fact, it took him a full minute to realize that he was in his own bedroom.

Only it wasn't remotely like his bedroom. To begin with, he would never hang a white gauzy curtain around the bed. And there was no way that those pillows could be his. And he was quite sure he would die rather than own that particular chair.

Severus sat up slowly, taking in the room-that-was-not-his-room.

"What in the hell-" He muttered to himself.

"Sev, are you up? You are going to be late for work." A female voice chided from the bathroom. The tap was on and a billow of steam came from the shower. Severus stood up slowly. Maybe he had taken a blow to the head and was imagining this. Or maybe the Dementor had sucked all the joy out of his life and this was what was left...

The insistent smell of coffee drove him from his room and into the kitchen. This room at least was more as he remembered it. If it hadn't been for the colorful tea towels he would almost think nothing had changed. But something had, that much was obvious. Severus sat in the chair nearest the door, waiting for the intruder in his house to come and explain herself.

He didn't have long to wait. The tap turned off and a few minutes later a woman walked in, head tilted away from him and towel vigorously rubbing at a mess of brown hair. He noticed with chagrin that she was wearing his bathrobe.

"I demand to know what you are doing here!"

The woman jumped and whirled around, looking at him with a pair of wide, and familiar, brown eyes.

"Miss Granger?" He asked incredulously.

She grinned at him. "Just couldn't resist scaring me out of my wits on my first day of school, could you Sev?"

"Miss Granger! Since when do you wear my bathrobe? And since when did you call me by that disgusting diminutive?"

"Since mine got torn up by a certain Professor. And about the same time you stopped calling me _Miss Granger_." Her eyes narrowed at him. "Severus, are you alright?"

Her eyes seemed for the first time to take in his clothes. He looked down at himself. He was still wearing his Deatheaters robes, the ones he had had on when the final battle started. Her eyes narrowed further and before he could say anything she had a forearm against his throat and her wand in his face.

"Where is Severus?" She asked. Her voice was dangerously low. She sounded like him at his angriest and he would have been flattered if she hadn't been threatening him.

"If Lucius Malfoy has touched a hair on his head..."

"Lucius Malfoy?" Severus managed to repeat. Hermione released her hold on his neck but didn't lower her wand.

"Who are you?"

"I am Severus Snape, you silly girl and if you don't tell me what is going on this instant you will be in detention with Filch long after your grandchildren graduate."

Hermione let out a shaky breath.

"Only Severus Snape could make a threat like that." She said and put her wand into the pocket of his bathrobe.

"Indeed. Now Miss Granger, would you mind telling me what is going on?"


	3. Surprises

Chapter Three: Surprises

"What is the last thing you remember?"

They were sitting in the study, a room that Severus remembered at his private haven, but was now full to overflowing with books, papers, periodicals and leftover tea mugs. He picked up one of the hardbacks, read the title (Button: A House Elf and His Master) and set it down in disgust. Like every other room in his house, Hermione Granger had made herself at home. Or more accurately, she _was_ home. He had no idea how this odd confluence of events had happened but he was determined to find out and to throw her out as soon as possible.

"I was being attacked by Lucius Malfoy. He had summoned a Dementor. I tried to say the Patronus charm, and was about to try again when..." He made a gesture that took in the room.

Hermione furrowed her brow. "And nothing else? You were just here?"

Snape remembered the rushing in his ears as the Dementor leaned closer. He barely suppressed a shudder.

"Nothing else."

"Well, this is interesting. Wait, I've just had a thought. Let me see your arm."

"What?" He couldn't have heard her correctly.

"Let me see your arm." She said again slowly, as though talking to a very dim child.

"May I ask why?"

"Just let me see it!" She reached over and began unbuttoning his robes. Severus batted her hands away, mortified at the liberty she took with his body. But another thought came.

_Was this normal?_

"Miss Granger, what are you doing here?" He asked as he finished unfastening his robes and set them aside to start on the cuff of his shirt. "It is obvious that you live here but in what capacity?"

He rolled up the sleeve and bared his arm to her. The Dark Mark glared faintly, imprinted into the flesh of his forearm. Hermione took no notice of it.

"No scar." She said wonderingly. She raised her hand and would have touched the smooth white skin if he hadn't stepped back.

"Miss Granger you will answer my question."

"Only if you answer mine."

He raised an eyebrow but said nothing.

"Before the Dementor caused you to black out you said something. I remember but I couldn't hear you. What did you say?"

"I cast a spell. A memory spell."

She nodded. "I thought so." She sat back, a satisfied expression on her face.

"Well?" He prompted.

"What am I doing here?" She gave him a mock innocent look. "I'm afraid dear Severus, that I am your wife."


	4. Mourning

**Hot off the presses (of the computer screen)! Hope you all like, much more to come very soon, I promise. Thanks for all the kind reviews, keep 'em coming!**

**Disclaimer: I disclaim!**

**Chapter Four: Mourning**

Hermione watched her husband's face, savoring the moment. There were so few times in their married life that she had actually managed to render him speechless and the combination of incredulity and horror on his face was priceless. Hermione couldn't help it; she laughed.

He glared at her, which only made it funnier.

"I do not find this situation at all humorous. Obviously you have lost what little wits you were born with but I can assure you I am no one's husband, least of all yours." The temperature of his voice lowered to freezing as he delivered this last barb. Hermione fought to compose herself and finally managed to stop laughing, but she couldn't wipe the silly grin off her face.

"If you are quite finished..." He raised an eyebrow. Hermione gestured at him that she was. "Good." He stood up.

"Where are you going?" She asked.

"As you have obviously lost your mind, I find I must seek outside assistance in answering my questions. I will ask Dumbledore."

The grin slid from Hermione's face. "Severus..."

He wasn't listening to her. He had already made his way to the fireplace and taken a pinch of floo powder from the carved box on the mantle.

"Severus wait!"

He threw the powder into the fire.

"Severus, Dumbledore is dead."

He turned slowly, his whole body stiff. "What did you say?" He asked quietly.

"Dumbledore is dead. He died three days after the battle. I'm sorry..."

Her voice trailed off. Snape's face had drained of color.

"What was it for?" He asked and his voice was full of bitterness and pain. "What was any of it for? He killed Dumbledore… _He_ won. _He_ _won_!" Severus seemed to shrink into himself with every word and he sank down onto the sofa and buried his head in his hands. Hermione hurried across the room and pulled his hands away, taking his face gently in her hands and looking him in the eye.

"Severus, listen to me. Voldemort didn't win. He didn't kill Dumbledore. Dumbledore did it himself, or more appropriately, he created the spell that killed him." She sighed. "Harry can explain this a lot better than I can. He'll know what to tell you and what not to..."

"I think, Miss Granger, that you better tell me all of it."

She studied him for a moment. The anger has gone out of his voice and he was now looking at her levelly, something he had not done since he had come here.

_But how did he come here?_ She wondered._ It's obvious that he somehow moved forward in time. But what can I say to him? How do I know that what I say won't change everything?_

"You've already told me enough to change things." He said as though he had been reading her mind.

_Wouldn't put that past him_, she thought. In truth she and Severus communicated that way much of the time.

_I wonder... _Hermione reached out. Yes, she could feel him right there, on the edge of her consciousness. She pulled back, knowing that probing further would be unwarranted and unwelcome. Severus Snape, in this time or any other, was a private man.

"Alright." She said finally. "Alright, I'll tell you. But what I say to you…a lot of what I'll tell you has been kept secret from the Wizarding world, and with good reason. It could mean Harry's life if the truth ever got out, and not just because there are Deatheaters still at large. A lot of what happens seems pretty unbelievable, even to me. And I was there…" She trailed off. Snape made a gesture that was unmistakably will-you-get-on-with-it.

"Okay." Hermione said. "Okay. Let's go."


	5. Revelations and Memories

_Whew! Sorry that this chapter took longer than I thought. Work has been…well, work! And if my boss catching me sneaking fanfic again I might be in real trouble! Anyhow, as always please R/R. And hey, while you're at it, read my Draco story "Choices" (shameless plug!)._

_Disclaimer Of course I don't own it. Would I be sneaking around at work if I did?_

Chapter Five: Revelations and Memories

Snape sat in the familiar chair of the Headmaster's office and glowered at the boy across from him. He had not wanted to come here. Miss Granger-_Mrs. Snape apparently_, he thought wryly-had not allowed him to protest. She had just hauled him into the fire and joined him, standing a little to close for comfort in the small grate, and threw a handful of Floo powder at their feet, saying," Headmaster's office."

Snape nearly fell out of the fireplace. He bent over himself and gasped for air, fighting the urge to be sick.

"Sorry." Hermione apologized, stepping out of the fire behind him. "I should have warned you about the Floo network being disrupted. Makes for a rough ride." He narrowed his eyes at her and forced his body upright just as Potter stepped from Dumbledore's private quarters into the room.

"Hermione, Severus, won't you sit down? Tea? No? To what do I owe the pleasure?" Potter greeted them enthusiastically, as though Granger showed up in _his _bathrobe every morning. Snape felt his lip curl, disgusted. The boy was smiling at him in an all-to-familiar manner. He motioned to a chair and Snape was just about to take it when the boy walked around to the other side of the desk and sat in the Headmaster's chair. Snape jumped up. How dare the little prat sit in Dumbledore's place!

"Just what do you think you are doing Potter?" He hissed. The boy looked back at him nonplussed.

"Sitting at my desk." He replied mildly. He turned to Granger. "A spell?"

"Yes." She said. "I think a time-altering spell or perhaps a Displacement charm? He doesn't remember anything past the Battle. And the scar he had when the Dark Mark was obliterated is gone."

"Ah." He turned to Snape and the Professor felt suddenly pinned down by those eyes. He looked at the boy sourly. To say he was disappointed would be an understatement. He had always rather hoped that the Dark Lord and Potter would finish each other off.

"Sorry to disappoint you Severus."

It had been subtly done. Snape had felt no invasion, not the merest hint that the boy had been reading his mind. No one was able to do that to him. No one except…His eyes sought Potter's and the green eyes looked back at him. Only they weren't green at all. They were blue. Maddeningly, impossibly blue! Snape felt his face drain of color.

"How?" He gasped out. For the second time that day he was caught completely off guard.

"I trust you have heard of the _Delegare Navaris_?"

Snape searched his memory for the Latin: _Delegare_, to delegate or transfer, and _Navaris_, energy. It was an ancient spell, arcane and impossibly complex, even for a wizard of Dumbledore's ability. It's recipient was bestowed with the magical ability of the caster. But the side effects were ghastly. If the wizard who cast the spell did not pull out of it in time he could be drained dry. But surely Albus would have known the danger; surely he would not have sacrificed himself needlessly.

Unbidden, Snape remembered the last time he had seen Dumbledore. He had just brought the news that the Dark Lord was planning to attack the school. Dumbledore had sat back in his chair, fingers steepled and eyes far away.

"Thank you Severus. Please summon the other Order members and tell them to meet me in two hours time here in my office."

Snape turned to do as he was bidden but the Headmaster's soft voice stopped him.

"Have I asked too much of him?"

No need to ask whom the Headmaster meant. Potter had improved by leaps in the last year. Even Snape had to admit that he was not only an exceptional duelist but a talented Occlumancer as well. But he knew what Dumbledore meant. The boy was angry. He had suffered much loss in his short life. But he was not a killer. Snape had shared his fear that the boy did not possess the necessary ruthlessness with the Headmaster before but Dumbledore had showed nothing but faith in the boy's ability. Until now.

The Headmaster sighed heavily. "I have always placed great burdens on those I love. I can only hope that later they will forgive me."

Snape had said nothing. There had seemed to be nothing to say. But looking back on it he could see that Albus was apologizing, in his way. Not just to Harry, but to him as well.

He had been only seventeen when he had become a spy. In the twenty years he had served the Order he had seen things and done things that did not bear thinking about. He had done them gladly, knowing that he was serving the greater good. But despair and death warp the soul. His service had scarred him irrevocably, perhaps irretrievably. Albus had seen that and grieved for him.

Often after he returned from a Revel he would sit with Dumbledore in the Headmaster's office. Albus seemed to understand that he needed that time, needed reminding of who he was and why he had chosen to fight. Sometimes they would not speak, just sit together and stare into the fire. And sometimes those blue eyes would skewer his soul and he would confess in a trembling voice all the sickness and depravity he had just witnessed. And sometimes the old man would open his arms to Snape like a father to a son and hold him against the horror inside. In those moments when Snape allowed it, he felt that Dumbledore would gladly have borne all this pain for him and it made it better somehow. But he had never said it. And Snape had never told the old man what it meant to him to know that someone cared, that someone was sorry…

"He sacrificed himself." Snape said, his voice flat.

"Yes." Potter answered. "He gave me everything. I tried to give it back. I tried…but I didn't know how. I-" Potter's voice broke with emotion. Hermione reached across the desk and took his hand. Those wise blue eyes rose to meet Snape's and a memory floated out to him.

_Harry raced through the Forbidden Forest, crashing through the bracken, a sob tearing the back of his throat. His body ached from battle, he was so exhausted he could barely keep hold of his wand, but it didn't matter. Nothing mattered but that he got there in time. He reached a clearing and a little hut sat in the shadowed center of the forest. Powerful wards had protected this place for a generation but they recognized him immediately and parted like a curtain for him to pass. Harry stumbled across the clearing to the door and wrenched it open._

_It was very dark inside the hut and it took a moment for Harry's eyes to see the figure lying on the narrow cot in the corner. Dumbledore looked shriveled and grey and impossibly old. Harry half feared that he was to late but the old man's chest moved with his shallow breath and Harry threw himself across the room, clutching the Headmaster's body to him._

"_Please, please…" He sobbed helplessly. "Take it back! I did what you wanted. Voldemort is dead. I don't need it anymore. Please!" He shook the old man, begging desperately but Dumbledore would not wake. _

_Harry stayed like that for three days, alternately shouting and pleading at the old wizard, watching the spark of life fade and finally die. And when it was over he laid the Headmaster's body down and covered him with a blanket. He walked calmly outside. Hermione was waiting for him at the edge of the clearing. The wards had allowed her to go no further but she had waited for him to return and when she saw him she rushed forward, hugging him hard. _

"_Oh Harry, are you alright? What happened?" _

"_Dumbledore is dead." Harry said, still with unshakable calm. Hermione pulled back and gasped as she saw his eyes, blue like Dumbledore's. _

"_Harry…?" She started in a questioning voice._

_Harry smiled at her then, the old boyish smile that she remembered. _

"_Come on Hermione. They are waiting for us." He took her hand in his and led her away from the Forbidden Forest. _

Hermione's voice interrupted the flow of memory. "We didn't know what he planned to do."

But Potter was looking at him over her head and Snape had to vague suspicion that Potter _had_ known. He just hadn't known the consequences.

"Anyway, we still haven't answered the question of how Severus got here." Hermione brought them all back on track.

"Yes, you're right Hermione. Severus, what was the last spell you used?"

"_Inflamentia Regalto._" Snape lied. Potter was still looking at him with the Headmaster's eyes, damn him, and Snape knew that Potter knew he was lying. But he just leaned back in his chair.

"Well." He said at last. "There were a lot of strange things that happened during the Battle. All that Dark Magic flying around. Look at what happened to the Floo network. This is obviously just another side effect."

Snape shot Potter a confused look. Potter looked back placidly, apparently having no trouble lying straight faced to his friend.

_He's inherited more from the old man than I imagined_. Snape thought.

"So what do we do?" Granger asked. "I mean, how do I get _my_ Severus back?"

Snape stiffened; not at all sure he liked being referred to as Granger's _anything_.

"I don't know." Potter ran his hand through his wild hair. Snape was relieved to see that his eyes had gone back to their usual color. "We'll think of something. In the meantime, you both will just have to act as normal as possible."

"In what world is it considered normal that I am married to Hermione Granger?" Snape snapped.

Granger gave him a look that would have withered anyone else. She looked on the verge of saying something but stopped herself, turning instead to Harry.

"I have to go, my first class starts in half an hour. See you." She got up and went to the fire without looking at her husband.

"Snape's' rooms." She said and disappeared in a whirl of green fire.

Harry's eyes rested on Severus for a moment.

"Would you mind telling me what _really_ happened?" He asked.

A/N Well, I hope this chapter makes this whole story a little less cliché then it sounded in the beginning. Please R/R and let me know what you think. Thanks to **Duj** for your insightful criticism. **Gwen Fairbrook**, **Vanityfair**, **Corky 42**, and all the others that reviewed, thank you from the bottom of my heart.


	6. Conversation over Tea

Chapter Six: Conversation over Tea 

"And now Severus, would you mind telling me what really happened?"

Snape's eyes narrowed at the boy's presumption. The Potions Master could bear many things but never false friendship.

"No. I don't think so." He stood to go, a sneer curling his lips but Potter's voice stopped him.

"Sit down!" It was Harry's voice but Dumbledore's command and Snape found himself obeying before he realized it. A look of intense irritation flashed across his face as his backside hit the chair.

"Now," Potter continued in a level voice. " I do not like lying to my friends. So tell me, what is the real reason you are here?"

Potter's eyes were still green but no less compelling, damn him, and Snape found the story pouring out of him. "Lucius set the Dementor after me and I tried to cast the Patronus charm. I could not and so, I tried another spell." Severus did not want to say that he couldn't think of a memory happy enough to defeat the Dementor's magic. Luckily, Potter had apparently inherited some of Dumbledore's tact as well, for he did not ask the obvious question, just said, "And the spell?"

"Legilimens Memoriam."

Potter looked confused. "What is that?"

Snape spread his hands. "No idea. I made it up."

"**What**!" Harry spluttered tea all over the mahogany desk. "You just-but-I mean, really-" Snape could have laughed at the dismayed look on Potter's face. It must have set over his Gryffindor sense of decorum to think that someone would duel without rules.

While Potter recovered Snape allowed his eyes to travel around the familiar office. Few things had changed really. Potter had moved some of the knickknacks around and the picture of Phineas Nigellus was gone, replaced by an elderly witch in a bad wig. The pinched old bag was staring at him reproachfully. Snape raised an eyebrow at her and she huffed out of the painting. The Potions Master shrugged and turned back to Potter, who had recovered himself sufficiently enough to sit back in his chair, though some of the Headmaster's dignity was lost in the merriment that still danced in his eyes.

"Well, this is very interesting. It would seem that whatever spell you created on the battlefield propelled you forward in time by…" Potter looked at one of the instruments on his desk, "…seven years, eight months and seven days."

"Seven years," Snape repeated. "And how long have I been…" He made a vague gesture.

"Oh, you're newlyweds. Only been married for about a year." Snape began to brighten up at that. "You know Severus, you could be a bit more gracious. You may have been thrust forward in time but Hermione's just lost her husband."

Snape made a face at that. Harry leaned back, an amused smile playing on his lips.

"What would you suggest?" It was unthinkable that Severus Snape should ask Harry Potter for advice. But asking Dumbledore-in-Potter was another matter.

"You first class begins in ten minutes. I think that may be a start."

Snape opened his mouth to answer but a knock at the door stopped him. "Headmaster? Oh Severus, I'm sorry-" Professor McGonagal had poked her head into the room.

"No, it's quite alright Minerva. Severus was just leaving." Potter stood and Snape followed suit, surprised at the ease with which the young man dismissed him. Snape's eyes narrowed but Minerva was already entering the room.

_Better part of valor_, he thought as he closed the door of the young Headmaster's office behind him.


End file.
